Newcastle United have made some mistakes in the transfer market over the years but selling Ivan Toney for a six-figure fee has to rank right up there.
Toney joined Newcastle back in the summer of 2015 earning a big move having scored 13 goals in 60 games for Northampton Town.
Toney had shown potential with the Cobblers and Newcastle were prepared to take a punt on him.
Unfortunately for Toney, he would only ever play twice in the league for Newcastle. In fact, most of his time with the Magpies was spent out on loan.
After spells with Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic and Scunthorpe United, Toney was sold to Peterborough in 2018.
Newcastle sold Toney for just £650,000, seemingly believing that he just wouldn’t make the grade in the Premier League.
Fast forward three-and-a-half years and Toney would now probably cost around 50 times that amount.
After becoming a goal machine for Peterborough, Toney has continued with Brentford and has hit 11 goals in 25 Premier League games this season.
Even with Brentford now looking set to stay up, Toney is bound to attract major Premier League interest this summer.
The 26-year-old has bounced back incredibly from being flogged by Newcastle – and has now been backed for a return to St James’ Park.
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has admitted on his podcast The Hard Truth that he thinks Newcastle should re-sign Toney.
MacAnthony thinks that, if Newcastle had any sense, they would secure Toney’s return and watch the goals roll in, predicting he would become a favourite at St James’ Park.
“If Newcastle had any sense they would be signing him and bringing him back,” said MacAnthony. “The Geordies would absolutely worship the ground he walks on because he would score 20 goals in a Newcastle team with better players,” he added.
Newcastle are likely to add another striker to Callum Wilson and Chris Wood, but it’s hard to see Toney being their man.
With that £650,000 sale, it’s unlikely that Toney would want to head back to Newcastle even with big money on offer, having proven his worth away from Tyneside.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
